Tea-Publican Tyranny in Wisconsin: Dems ‘Missed it by that much’

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

As Maxwell Smart would say:

Missed it by that much

After tens of millions of dollars spent by outside interest groups, dozens of attack ads and exhaustive get-out-the-vote efforts, Democrats on Tuesday fell short of their goal of taking control of the state Senate and stopping the agenda of Gov. Scott Walker. Republicans hold off Dems in recalls, win enough seats to keep majority in Senate:

Republicans won four of six recall races, meaning the party still holds a narrow 17-16 majority in the Senate[.]

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Challengers state Rep. Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, and Jessica King unseated incumbent state Sens. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse, and Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac.

Next Tuesday, Sens. Robert Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie, and Jim Holperin, D-Conover face their own recall elections. [They are favored to win in their Democratic districts.]

Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, an independent-minded Republican who was the only Republican to vote against Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill, now becomes the most important man in Wisconsin. He is the all important swing vote. He has 16 new best friends today.

The recall election was an uphill fight from the beginning. Keep in mind that this recall election was fought on Republican turf – gerrymandered "safe" Republican districts. Five of the six districts “voted more Republican than the state as a whole” in 2008, as Craig Gilbert pointed out in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The seat held by Luther Olsen, for instance, hasn’t had a Democrat in more than 100 years. Yet Republicans lost one safe GOP district and one GOP leaner district on Tuesday.

This was also the first post-Citizens United v. FEC election in which unlimited independent expenditures from undisclosed contributors could participate. And boy did they. Republicans hold off Dems in recalls, win enough seats to keep majority in Senate:

Cash flowing into the recalls already has approached $30 million, and total spending by third-party groups and candidates could top $40 million, election watchdogs say. That total would double spending on all 116 of last fall's state legislative races combined.

Outside interest groups have spent millions on both sides, from conservative organizations like Wisconsin Club for Growth, Wisconsin Family Action, and Citizens for a Strong America to pro-union and liberal groups like We Are Wisconsin, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and Democracy for America.

The false equivalency in the above reporting is B.S. Labor and progressive groups were badly outspent in Wisconsin. In the District 8 Sen. Alberta Darling race alone, almost $10 million was spent between pro-Darling independent expenditures and the money she raised, making it the most expensive state legislative race in history.

Despite their financial disadvantage, labor and progressive groups relied upon a massive grassroots boots on the ground operation to take two seats. That infrastructure is in place for the 2012 elections.

According to Mary Spicuzza at the Wisconsin State Journal Politics blog: Dems push ahead with plans to recall Gov. Walker:

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin said Wednesday morning it is pushing ahead with its plans to recall Gov. Scott Walker[.]

"Barely scraping by on their own turf is an incredible sign of weakness for Gov. Walker and Republicans," party chairman Mike Tate said. "The historic gains made tonight to restore balance and accountability to our state, and restore Wisconsin values, will continue when the entire state weighs-in on the November 2012 elections – and with the recall of Scott Walker himself."

There is an open U.S. Senate seat in Wisconsin in 2012 with the retirement of Herb Kohl (D), a seat Democrats need to defend, and Rep. Paul Ryan who wants to end Medicare as we know it with his Roadmap to America's Ruin will also draw attention from national organizations. The infrastructure that has been put in place during this recall election will help Democrats withstand the onslaught of corporate and billionaire money certain to flow into the state because of Citizens United v. FEC.